Easy Orange Chicken Casserole
Published 2/7/2023
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This Orange Chicken Casserole combines a classic takeout meal with easy at-home prep, made with just one dish!
This orange chicken casserole is a Fit Foodie favorite! It was recently updated on 2/4/2023, to be made with a more accessible rice (jasmine rice). If you love the old recipe, you can find it HERE.
Orange chicken, but a casserole!
Hello, takeout meets meal prep! This orange chicken casserole is bursting with flavor and uses nutritious ingredients to make an easy meal with just one pot.
It features long-gran white rice, chicken breast, broccoli, and an easy orange chicken sauce for a colorful meal that feeds a crowd.
The best part is that this chicken casserole is made with a homemade orange chicken sauce created with better-for-you ingredients such as orange juice, chicken broth, honey, and sriracha.
PS: try our healthy orange chicken and Instant Pot orange chicken recipes!
Featured Ingredients
This takeout-inspired dish is made with fresh ingredients and the most delicious homemade orange chicken sauce you’ve ever tasted. Here are the mean ingredients:
- chicken breast (thighs work, too)
- onion
- broccoli florets
- Jasmine rice
- homemade orange chicken sauce
The sauce is rather simple to make. It’s made up of orange juice, chicken broth, honey, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and fresh ginger.
make it easy
Print Your Own
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Can I use a different kind of rice?
While we used jasmine rice, any kind of long-grain white rice works.
Why is the rice still crunchy after I bake the casserole?
The key to making sure the rice and sauciness of the casserole turn out just right is letting the casserole sit covered for 15 minutes after removing it from the oven.
This is important because it allows the rice to soak up the remaining liquid!
Veggie Add-In Ideas
Make this casserole your own with more veggies! Here are some ideas:
- Bell pepper
- Cauliflower
- Mushrooms
- Pea pods
Storage
Healthy casseroles are great for meal prep throughout the week! Make this orange chicken casserole on a Sunday and throw it in the refrigerator or freezer for easy meals to warm up for your busiest weeks.
Refrigerator: Store in an airtight container glass container, for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
To Reheat: reheat your casserole in the microwave on high for 60-90 seconds.
Easy Orange Chicken Casserole
Ingredients
For the Casserole
- 1.5 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into ~½ inch chunks
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1 cup jasmine rice, uncooked
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
- 4 cups chopped broccoli
For the Sauce
- 1.5 cups orange juice
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1/4 cups soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground ginger
- 2 tablespoon sriracha
Toppings
- 1-2 teaspoons sesame seeds
- 3 green onions, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to broil and then add the chicken to a 9×13-inch ceramic casserole dish. Add 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons orange juice, garlic powder, and sesame oil to the chicken and toss to coat. Let the chicken marinate for 10 minutes.
- Place the casserole dish into the oven under the broiler and broil the chicken for 2 minutes, toss, and add additional 2 minutes to brown the chicken.
- Remove the casserole dish from the oven and add the jasmine rice, onion, and broccoli. Toss to combine.
- Next, mix up the sauce. Add the orange juice and honey to a bowl and whisk until there are no clumps of honey at the bottom of the bowl. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients to the orange juice and whisk to combine.
- Pour the sauce over the chicken mixture in the casserole and toss to combine. Be sure the rice is submerged in liquid.
- Turn the oven heat down to 375ºF and cover the casserole dish with tin foil. Bake the casserole for 30 minutes.
- Stir the casserole after 30 minutes (it will still have a lot of liquid in it). Bake the casserole, covered, for an additional 15-30 minutes, or until the rice is fully cooked.
- Remove the casserole from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes without removing the cover.
- Top with sesame seeds and green onions.
Tips & Notes
You can add more vegetables to this dish if you’d like.
This is a saucier casserole. Let the dish sit longer if you’d like the rice to absorb more liquid.
Watch It
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Photography: photos taken in this post are by Ashley McGlaughlin from The Edible Perspective.
Can i do this quinoa? Looks amazing for a family dinner! Thanks!
Read before you cook… This recipe does not work with Normal or organic brown rice and after waiting for it to cook for 3 and a half hours – the rice was still rock hard and I had to throw it all away as the chicken had completely dried out and brocolli had dissolved !!
I’m getting ready to make this for the first time tonight. Anything I need to know before I start?
Just made this recipe following the directions to a t and it set up PERFECTLY! Was a little nervous reading the other reviews – my only thought of how it may be “undercooked” is if you do not leave it to sit covered for the 10 minutes after baking. That step seemed crutial for the rice to cook through! Fantastic recipe !
So glad it worked for you! A lot of the other people who left reviews didn’t actually use sprouted rice, which is the main issue for the rice being too hard. Glad it worked for you!
This ended up a bit too sweet for me. It took over 2 hours and I gave up at that point and settled for hard rice. Not sure what went wrong with the rice!
I used regular brown rice and noticed similar unpleasant results as previous commenters. After 30 minutes I split the casserole into 2 separate dishes because all of the ingredients wouldn’t even fit. For the last 30 minutes I cooked it at 410F and it still wasn’t completely done. All in all it took about 2 hours to cook.
Made this last night and have to agree with the other commenters. Used the TruRoots brown rice and followed the recipe exactly and still ended up with hard rice and a soupy casserole. The taste was there, but the texture was disappointing.
Not a good recipe. Followed everything to a T including using germinated brown rice and after 2 hours in the oven the rice was still undercooked.
I made this tonight for my family with regular brown rice and despite some hiccups while cooking it turned out to be a hit. I followed the special instructions for using regular brown rice but noticed that the rice was hardly cooking at all since the liquid wasn’t really even simmering. I turned my oven up to 410 F with ~20 minutes left. I still had to add about 10 minutes of extra cooking and after sitting it was still soupy. However, everyone thought it tasted great, so the sauce is a winner. In the future I’ll use the higher temperature to start and I think I wont need the extra time.
I used Quinoa instead of the Brown Rice and it didn’t turn out good at all!! By using the Quinoa the casserole came out real sticky/gummy. I cook with Quinoa & Brown Rice all the time. Not exactly sure what went wrong. Maybe I’ll give it another try but use Brown Rice.